Carson Schwesinger ready to build on Defensive Rookie of Year, focused on 'what's next'

BEREA — Carson Schwesinger's 2025 season ended with him on stage at NFL Honors collecting the award as Defensive Rookie of the Year."Yeah, that was pretty cool," the linebacker said Wednesday. "My whole family was there, which was cool to share that with all them, and just to be able to see that's a great honor."But now the mindset is just what's next. Keep building off of it."Todd Monken happy with start of offseason program, hopes to establish 'a team that nobody wants to play'Schwesinger was back in town for the voluntary offseason program that started Tuesday. He began the offseason recovering from a quadriceps injury that ended his season a week early, then soaked in the California sun."The beginning of the offseason was just getting healthy and getting the body right again," he said. "That rookie year's a long year. You don't really get a break from college season to the training to draft to everything like that. So really just get the body back to healthy and now it's just the same thing as always. Trying to find everything that I can get better at and finding ways to do that throughout this process."Schwesinger, the No. 33 pick out of UCLA, didn't leave much room for obvious improvement in his first season. He was an immediate starter, called the defensive signals and totaled 146 tackles, 11 for loss, two interceptions, 2.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits.He led NFL rookies in tackles and tackles for loss and tied for third in interceptions. His streak of seven straight games with double-digit tackles was the longest in the league.Notes: Carson Schwesinger, Tyson Campbell quick fans of DC Mike Rutenberg's 'addictive' positive energy"I remember being in the draft meetings at the place I was previously and them talking about Carson," new coach Todd Monken said, referring to his role as offensive coordinator with the Ravens. "I remember them speaking of what his superpower was, who he was. And then to see it when we played against them was impressive."Run, chase, hit, very instinctual, loves football. Outstanding leader. All of those things. And you're like, 'Well, they were right.' I'm damn glad he's a Brown."Cornerback Tyson Campbell arrived in the locker room in October in a trade from the Jaguars. It didn't take long for him to appreciate the rookie in the middle of the defense."He just showed me how much of a great player he is and how high his ceiling is," Campbell said. "He could be one of the greats to ever play in this league."The head he has on his shoulders, humble kid, comes to work every day, passionate about his craft and his job and cares about his teammates. So off rip, I just seen how great of a player he is, but how humble and passionate about the game he is, as well."Despite the kind words and accolades — Schwesinger was voted a Pro Bowl alternate — he isn't satisfied. One area he wants to improve is creating turnovers after not having a forced fumble or fumble recovery."There's a lot of things to get better at, whether it's just the preparation throughout the game week and figuring out really how to watch film and things like that," he said. "But even just at this time, whether it's improving the football intelligence, or just finding better ways to attack the ball and really get those punchouts. I think that's something really going to work on this year. Just continuing to grow in terms of patience behind the ball and being able to see things and being ready by the snap."The Browns have a new defensive coordinator in Mike Rutenberg, and Schwesinger was impressed by his energy. Linebackers coach Jason Tarver returns with the additional title of run game coordinator."Me and Tarver have talked a lot about areas to improve and how we're going to do that and what to do to get there," Schwesinger said. "I got to go back to Cali more than he did, too, so he's a little jealous of that, but I'm just excited to be around him, too, and the energy he brings."While the program is voluntary, attending was a no-brainer for Schwesinger."I think if you love football, you're going to love being here. I think that's what it is," he said. "That's what we're doing every day is football and you're with your brothers every day and you're doing football."He played 16 games last year, including fighting through a high ankle sprain for much of the second half. He learned about taking care of his body to survive a 17-game season."Just the preparation you have for your body is important. And sometimes if you're playing football things you're going to have and you can't control and it's just a matter of doing everything you can to feel as good as you can on gameday and try and do everything I can to stay on the field," he said.Schwesinger has a new running mate at linebacker. Devin Bush left in free agency for the Bears and was replaced by free agent Quincy Williams, a former All-Pro who played for Rutenberg with the Jaguars and Jets."I'm very excited to be able to have him in the room and be able to learn from him," Schwesinger said. "He's been in the league a long time and so he's got a lot of stuff to teach. Just the energy he brings is something you can already tell from two days. So it's going to be something that I'm excited to be around the whole year."The post Carson Schwesinger ready to build on Defensive Rookie of Year, focused on 'what's next' first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.